Sorry guys...the Pope said you don't exist...
Posted on 10/09/2006 8:53:29 PM PDT by SirLinksalot
Edited on 10/09/2006 9:00:42 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
To Catholics of generations past, baptism wasn't something to be deferred until a convenient time, because the souls of infants who died without it were thought to be consigned to something other than heaven. Limbo.
Not quite heaven, not nearly hell, it was regarded as a place of eternal happiness that fell just short of paradise, reserved for unbaptized children and righteous souls who lived before Christ.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Sorry that was old news.
This is the latest one :
http://www.cathnews.com/news/610/39.php
Reprieve for limbo after theologians meet
A Vatican document on the concept of limbo is still incomplete and the International Theological Commission will continue work for another year in an attempt to further refine the Catholic understanding of what happens to unbaptised babies after death.
While no one can be certain of the fate of unbaptised babies who die, Christians can and should trust that God will welcome those babies into heaven, members of the Vatican's Commission told Catholic News Service at the conclusion of their 2-6 October meeting in Rome.
The commission had met to continue work on a statement explaining why the concept of limbo entered the common teaching of the Church, why it was never officially defined as Catholic doctrine, and why hope for their salvation makes more sense, said commission member Fr Paul McPartlan.
"We cannot say we know with certainty what will happen" to unbaptised babies, Fr McPartlan said, "but we have good grounds to hope that God in his mercy and love looks after these children and brings them to salvation."
Fr McPartlan, a professor at the Catholic University of America in Washington, said the 30 commission members were in agreement on the main thesis of the document, but they had not put the finishing touches on it.
If they vote on the final version by mail, the document could be released in 2007.
He said that while affirming people's hope, the document takes pains to explain the Christian belief that baptism is necessary to guarantee salvation and urges parents to baptise their infants.
The document "in no way means to lessen the urgency with which the church invites parents to have their children baptised," said Fr McPartlan.
"What we are trying to do is to say, 'What does the church say when confronted with the situation of an infant who has died without being baptised?' That and that alone is what prompted our document.
"The answer is not a simplistic, 'Oh, don't worry; everything is fine,'" but rather that God's endless mercy, his love poured out in Jesus Christ and his desire to save all people gives a solid basis for hoping those children will be saved despite not having been baptised.
The commission began formal studies of the question in 2004 when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, was president of the advisory body and prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Fr McPartlan said the commission began considering the question because priests and bishops around the world had asked then-Cardinal Ratzinger for "an updated Catholic statement in response to the distressing human situation" of parents mourning the loss of a baby before baptism.
The commission also hoped to be able to respond to questions raised by those mourning the lives of babies lost through abortion. Because the Church teaches that human life begins at conception, the question applies to those babies as well, Fr McPartlan said.
He also said the theologians felt called to articulate a Catholic expression of hope in a world where hope is often lacking and lives are often laid to waste by war and violence.
Luther figured this out 4 decades ago.
I listen to him 12-3 almost every day. You can't make me believe he doesn't exist.
Oh now, just how low can you go?
What exactly was Luther doing in 1966, anyway, and where was he doing it?!?
Decades?
While not a Catholic, I do hope this Limbo thing goes. It just can't be right.
All Protestants have been saying this for years. Now to get rid of the concept of purgatory, which would bring us back to the Biblical precepts of Heaven or Hell
Chubby Checker:
every limbo boy and girl
all around the limbo world
they all do the limbo rock
all around the limbo clock
etc
(spoofed by Imus as "Limbaugh Rock" IIRC)
Martin Luther King?
Or do you mean 4 centuries ago?
And I suppose God spoke to him like He spoke directly to St. Augustine?
I think Christ is the only person God spoek directly to, except for a very few saints and Martin Luther wasn't one of them. He was all for persecuting Protestants who weren't Lutherans - like Calvinists and Anabaptists.
So does that mean you have to go lower?
See?
KRYTEN: Oh, it's not the end for me, sir, it's just the beginning. I have served my human masters, now I can look forward to my reward in silicon heaven.
LISTER: (Stunned pause.) Silicon _what_?
KRYTEN: Surely you've heard of silicon heaven?
LISTER: Has it got anything to do with being stuck opposite Bridgette Nielson in a packed lift?
KRYTEN: It's the electronic afterlife! It's the gathering place for the souls of all electonic equipment. Robots, calculators, toasters, hairdryers -- it's our final resting place.
LISTER: I don't mean to say anything out of place here, Kryten, but that is completely whacko, Jacko. There is no such thing as "silicon heaven."
KRYTEN: Then where do all the calculators go?
LISTER: They don't go anywhere! They just die.
KRYTEN: Surely you believe that god is in all things? Aren't you a pantheist?
LISTER: Yeah, but I just don't think it applies to kitchen utensils. I'm not a _frying_ pantheist! Machines do not have souls. Computers and calculators do not have an afterlife. You don't get hairdryers with tiny little wings, sitting on clouds and playing harps!
KRYTEN: But of course you do! For is it not written in the Electronic Bible, "The iron shall lie down with the lamp?" Well, it's common sense, sir. If there were no afterlife to look forward to, why on Earth would machines spend the whole of their lifes serving mankind? Now that would be really dumb!
LISTER: (Quietly) That makes sense. Yeah. Silicon heaven.
KRYTEN: Don't be sad, Mr David. I am going to a far, far better place.
LISTER: Just out of interest: Is silicon heaven the same place as human heaven?
KRYTEN: Human heaven? Goodness me! Humans don't go to heaven! No, someone made that up to prevent you all from going nuts!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.